Montreal, Aug 11: Milos Raonic beat fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) on Saturday to reach the Rogers Cup final and ensure he'll crack the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in his career.
Raonic, currently ranked 13th, will face the winner of the second semifinal later Saturday between two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Raonic will be trying to win his second title of the season and fifth of his career. He'll become the first Canadian to be ranked in the top 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
"They're all very special, but I think the top-10 one stands out more just because it's a goal that I set this year," Raonic said. "It looked a little bit difficult after how I played recently, but to do it here in Montreal is a relief and it's a happy feeling."
On the final point of the third-set tiebreaker, the 11th-seeded Raonic stretched to get to Pospisil's shot at the net, forcing his opponent to make a lunging volley that went into the net.
"The tiebreak got away from me a little bit there at the end, a couple of loose points," Pospisil said. "I didn't want to lose the match playing defensively. I tried to go for it even with the nerves that there were. This time it didn't work out, but that's the right way for me to go."
The last Canadian to win the event was Robert Bedard, who took the last of his three titles in 1958.
